“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jer. 2:13. “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” Ps. 36:9. Living water, the very source of life, can only be found in the Creator, the living God, who is the origin of all life. This is an eternal truth. These verses are from the Old Testament, but they also apply in the New Covenant, yes, for all eternity. What has happened time and again throughout history is that people abandon the fountain—a living fellowship with their God—and try to replace it by hewing out broken cisterns. Both of these are evil things. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. . . . Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:10, 13-14. From the conversation that continued between Jesus and the woman at the well, we see that the woman and her people were preoccupied with whether the worship of God should take place on the mountain in Samaria or in Jerusalem. Here it becomes clear that the fountain of life—a personal relationship with God and the worship of God in spirit and truth—had been replaced by an outward worship of God linked to specific rituals, forms, and places. V. 21-23. “God is Spirit,” Jesus said, “and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” V. 24. “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” This is what Jesus said to the Jews in John 5:39-40. Here we see how far removed from the “fountain” the Jews of Jesus’ time had become. Instead of coming to Jesus, who had the living water within Him, they tried to find the fountain in the written word, without perceiving that it was precisely Jesus it was pointing to. In other words, they chose to replace the fountain with a form of theology. They wanted to replace the fountain with a broken cistern; to replace God’s favor with the honor of men. Jesus told them that they did not have the word of God abiding in them, because they had neither heard God’s voice nor seen His form. V. 37-38. Had the Jews had the word of God abiding in them as a fountain of water, they would have recognized this fountain in the words of Jesus. Through a living connection with God, the very fountain itself, we are able to hear His voice and see His form. The pure in heart shall see God. Matt. 5:8. Ps. 17:15. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38. A living faith leads to living water. It is from the life of the believer that the rivers of blessings flow. It was not long after the days of the apostles that Christendom turned away from the fountain. Faith became rigid and was turned into rituals, sacraments, forms of doctrine, and church buildings. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Ps. 1:1-3. Jesus spoke about having the word of God dwelling in us. The word of God represents His will, His nature, His thoughts, His views, and His visions. So does the law of God. Meditating on the law of the Lord is likened to a tree whose roots are planted by the rivers of water. When a person rejects the law and word of God as something impossible for a human being to keep, it is no wonder that their life of faith withers away. They become like a helpless man in the barren wilderness, unable to see that anything good will come (no fruit). They live in parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Jer. 17:6. Those who have a living faith, on the other hand, become “. . . like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.” V. 8. “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.” Zech. 13:1. The word of God and His law are a mighty fountain. When we drink of it, we sense a powerful revulsion against all sin and all impurity. It was this living water that Jesus brought, for it destroys the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and produces the fruits of the Spirit in the believer. Gal. 5:22-23. A person living according to their lusts is like someone drinking from a broken cistern that is unable to hold water. Anyone who drinks from it will thirst again. The lusts of the human flesh can never be satisfied. They will always thirst for more. Just think to be able to put them all on the cross, and never thirst again! Think to instead have a fountain within you, from which you can pour out blessings wherever you go!Øyvind Johnsen

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17. The world is passing away, and the lust of it, and those who follow the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience will also pass away together with the world. But just imagine having the grace to go in the exact opposite direction, right from your youth! We are called to lay up heavenly riches—true riches that fill our spirits—but to do so, we must seek God’s kingdom first and last. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matt. 6:24. We must be willing to give up everything in this world in order to lay hold of the true riches. The exhortation not to love the world is not given to those who have gone far out into sin and who need to be converted. This exhortation is given to fathers, to the young people who were strong; the word of God dwelt in them, and they had overcome the wicked one! 1 John 2:14. “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” 1 Tim. 6:11. It is impossible to lay hold of these heavenly treasures without a “forced march” away from your own self. There is also a whole world of evil, pride, arrogance, honor seeking, and so on within us, which God would gladly reveal to us. These things must be acknowledged and suffered through, so that they have less and less power over our lives, to the extent that the light shines. It is only in the body of Christ that we can obtain these virtues, and it is only there that these riches are glorified. There we find spiritual power—yes, the power to trample Satan’s power underfoot. “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” Eph. 1:19. If I am to find the true treasures, I must, in spirit and in truth, lay down my life and follow Jesus into the lowly places. These fruits of the Spirit are not found up high; they are low-hanging, and we know that we need grace from God to be able to follow Jesus down there. “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Col. 2:3. We sing in WotL no. 59: “Down in the depths we find the hidden treasures; down in the depths are wisdom, peace, and grace. ‘Tis there alone we understand life’s meaning; God’s hidden glory’s in that secret place.” Then our hearts will be so comforted by such treasures that the world and the lust of it lose their power more and more completely!Gershon Twilley

“Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, ‘But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.’” John 21:21-22. Peter was to follow Jesus in the works that were prepared for him. Jesus responded quickly to shift his focus. This is also a blessed and helpful message for us, because much unrest comes when we get involved in what others are doing. “Why are they doing that?” “Why were they asked to do that?” “Why didn’t they ask me?” etc. Jesus gives us a clear answer: “You follow Me.” I am to be faithful and grow where I have been placed, as we are often exhorted. “. . . speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ.” Eph. 4:15. Here I can follow Jesus on the way He went, and grow up in all things into Him, regardless of what happens around me, or what the others do or don’t do. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 12:15-16, “If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body?” Of course it is! The foot and the hand and the eye and the ear have very different tasks but all belong to the same body. He writes further in verse 18: “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” How can I not be completely satisfied with this—that God Himself has placed them in the body just as He pleased? “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.” 1 Pet. 4:15. It is amazing that someone who mixes themselves in other people’s matters is mentioned in the same verse as a murderer, a thief, etc., but that is the case. It’s a matter of life and death to stop completely with meddling in other people’s matters, and flee from it! Then I receive my orders from the head, Christ. How good it is to keep Jesus’ words in my heart: “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”Mark Cheetham